Families face the prospect of third-level fees without any government loan deal to soften the blow. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has firmly ruled out a previously mooted scheme where graduates would repay the State for their college education.

Irish Independent August 16 2011

Families face the prospect of third-level fees without any government loan deal to soften the blow. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has firmly ruled out a previously mooted scheme where graduates would repay the State for their college education. It narrows the options for funding the extra €500m a year experts say the system will need by 2020 — meaning the return of fees is the only realistic outcome.

And it is increasingly likely that the Government will turn to parents and ask them to dip into their own savings or borrow to pay third-level fees upfront. A further increase in the €2,000-a-year student registration fee is now virtually certain for the academic year starting in September 2012. That charge has already risen by €500 this year.